Oh don't you worry you little Lit lovers; I have got something up my sleeve. I'm just a little apprehensive about posting it so soon, it's written and everything. I know that in chapter two, when Rory and Jess officially got back together, some of you thought it was just a tad too soon, so I'm trying to put a good amount of space before the big thing. I'm hoping to get it in somewhere in the area of the next three chapters, tops. Don't give up on me.

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As I was walking up the stairs of the apartment building, the elevator had broken, I heard music. It was loud, really loud. I figured that one of our neighbors was having a party because as soon as I stepped out of the stairwell and into the hall on the sixth floor, the music intensified. It wasn't until my key was in the door, which now stood partially opened, that I realized that the music was coming from my apartment. As Chuck Barry's "You never Can Tell" blared, I searched through the apartment for Rory. I finally found her, in the kitchen, making frozen lemonade drink in the blender, while dancing around, moving about. I watched her for a while, looking ridiculous and beautiful and carefree and intense all at the same time.

"What are we celebrating?" I asked, getting some glasses shapes like cactuses down from the cabinets.

"Hey," Rory answered cheerfully, leaning over and pecking me on the lips. "We are celebrating the end of my second year of college," she announced, handing me a glass.

"Huh, congratulations."

"Thank you," she nodded.

"So, what's with the music?" I asked, following Rory into the living room, which she had hastily decorated.

"I'm feeling very Chuck Barry-ish today," I slowly nodded, "After my last exam this morning I convinced Paris to watch Pulp Fiction with me."

"Oh. How did she like it?" I inquired.

"Yeah, not so much," she answered, turning down the music a notch. "Guess what I did?"

"Fell in love with the eloquence of Ernest?" I guessed.

"Nope," Rory giggled, putting her hands on my shoulders. "I finished the book."

"Shock-"

"No Jess, the book," Rory corrected.

A wave or realization engulfed me. I opened my mouth to say something, but it never came out. Rory laughed. Suddenly my mouth went dry. "Oh," I muttered, leaning back on the couch. "What did…um…"

"Look at you," she teased, sitting down on the coffee table facing me.

"You said you wouldn't mock me," I muttered.

"…and I'm not going to," she guaranteed, shaking her head back and forth so that her hair whipped around her face. "It is a satire…about life in a small town as told from the point of view of a hardcore city outsider… That's you, you're the hardcore city outsider."

"Stop," I grumbled.

"No, no It was good. I liked it. It was really funny, really dry too." I smirked. She went on, "Were we really that crazy?"

"You'd be surprised if we had been in different positions," I answered.

"I'm not in it," she said.

I turned to look at her, shocked. "Yes you are, you and your mom, both of you-"

"No, I mean, I'm not in it…we're not in it."

"I didn't want it to be like that," I explained. "I mean, a romance novel. That's not what I wanted to write. I didn't want people sobbing over you and Dean or rooting for me the whole time or hating me when I left."

She nodded. "I liked how you embellished Lane."

"I thought you would."

oooooooo

"Jess wake up," Rory stated, squirming underneath my arm.

"It's still dark. What did we agree?" I mumbled.

"Keep sleeping until after the sun is out, but this is special…Jeessssss…"

I rolled over so that my head was inches away from hers on the pillow, only to be met with her eyes staring back at mine, wide open. "Yes Rory?"

"It's been one year," she squealed. And then, whispering, "Happy Anniversary."

I smirked, awkwardly bending to kiss Rory's forehead and pull her close to me. "Happy anniversary," I whispered.

"Your still here," she murmured drowsily.

"I told you I would be," I assured her shoulder. "Did you doubt me?"

"I didn't know what to think," she answered. "Thank you for still being here."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"Let's go to Star's Hollow."

"What?" I asked, contorting my face in shock.

Rory got up and began to pull clothes out of the closet, the hamper, her drawers. "I have been out of school for a little over a week and I miss my mommy, Jess. Take me to Star's Hollow?"

By now I had jumped out of bed and stumbled over to where Rory stood. I took hold of her hands, stopping her destruction of order. "We can, today in fact, but not right now, okay?"

"But we need to do laundry; did you know that three AM is the best time to do laundry?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Think about it: you get to pick any machine you want and they have all been disinfected."

"Oh wow," I commented, "It's Christmas in July all over again." Rory looked at me pleadingly. I yawned. "Fine, but you owe me a heavily caffeinated drink."

"Thank you, get dressed," Rory called, collecting her clothes from the bathroom. She came back in, catching me watching her. "Get your clothes!"

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"I want to ride the dryer," Rory declared, distantly as she watched our laundry spin around.

"Words I never thought I'd hear out of your mouth for six hundred," I replied.

"Doesn't that look like fun," she asked in all seriousness.

"Oh yeah…I want to be a sock when I grow up." Rory sighed. Venturing over to the dryer and putting her hand on it. "I figure whenever I get bored I can just sneak into the reds, stir up a little trouble," I went on. Rory was now climbing on top of the dryer, sitting cross-legged so that she bounced up and down. "Then I can just sneak back into the bleach load, do it again and again so that…what are you doing?"

"Riding the dryer," Rory answered.

"Stop saying that, you're making it sound hot," I teased, walking over to her. "Your incredible."

"Please," she snorted, "I'm riding the dryer. I'm a regular super hero."

"Yeah, but who else would ride the dryer?" I ventured, attempting to kiss her, but failing miserably due to the vibrations of the dryer.

Rory laughed, gripping my shoulders. "I Love you Jess."

"Me too, always," I risked. "Always."

oooooooo

"Where are we staying?" I asked Rory as we stood on Lorelei's porch.

"Probably above the diner," I looked at her questioningly. "Luke moved in with mom," she explained.

"Oh," I nodded.

"Which is good, right?" she went on, turning to face me. "We'll get our own place to stay when we visit."

"We will," I agreed.

"Rory?" Lorelei screeched. "What are you doing out here?"

"Happy summer Mom," Rory yelled, falling into her mother's open arms. Lorelei dragged Rory away into the house, leaving me on the front porch with all our bags. Rory helplessly looked back at me, sympathetic. "Mom, wait, aren't you forgetting something?" Lorelei stopped, spinning around, staring at Rory blankly. Rory sighed, "Mom, Jess, my-"

"Boyfriend, blah, blah, blah," Lorelei interrupted. "Hi Jess, I'm Lorelei, Rory's mother," I rolled my eyes, "Anyway, I am just about the coolest mom ever, so you two can stay above the diner. See you later now, me and Rory have to do something. It is me time now, you have her all the time. Scoot."

"Mom, ow... stop pushing me. Ow…you pinched me," Rory whined, staring back at me.

"Did not," Lorelei overstated.

"You so did, right there on the arm," Rory displayed her arm. "Bye Jess."

"God, you are so clingy," Lorelei complained, getting Rory into the house with a final shove.

I inwardly winced. The more I thought about it, the worse it sounded. Rory's boyfriend. It sounded childish, juvenile. I knew that we weren't exactly the most mature people, but we were adults. I couldn't help but feel unimportant at the term.

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"Mom," Rory asked warily as she watched coffee drip into a pot, "You and Luke are getting pretty serious, huh?"

"I guess, hun," Lorelei replied as she heated up French Bread Pizza. "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking," Rory began, sitting down at the kitchen table, "if you and Luke, you know, hypothetically of course, got married are something…and then there would always be me and Jess…would that be gross?"

Lorelei sighed, sitting next to Rory at the table. "Not really…I mean, at least I don't think so. Luke and Jess don't even have the same last name, so it wouldn't even sound gross. And you and Luke are not related, so not really…" Lorelei trailed off, as if pondering her statement. "Why," she asked suspiciously, "have you and Jess talked about anything…serious, anything, more?" Rory just stared at her mother, taking a while to understand. Lorelei expanded, "Maybe one day getting ma-married, having a family?"

"Oh, no, no no no," Rory stammered, shaking her head. "Well, I mean…it's been a year mom."

Lorelei nodded. "It has."

"And he's still here, you know? He's really doing better, talking about things, being really nice to people. He has a job, we have a routine, a…a…"

"You have the beginning of a life together, Ror," Lorelei finished quietly.

Rory sighed, picking at her food. "It's scary, mom."

Lorelei laughed, squeezing her daughter's shoulders, "Aw, honey, you're happy. That's all that matters. Part of love is being scared, talking about it, and laughing about it after the fact."

"I am happy," Rory beamed. "Thank you, mom." Lorelei smiles encouragingly.

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"Can I put this upstairs?" I asked, making Luke aware of my presence.

He looked up from his notepad, "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Nice to see you too Uncle Luke," I replied, drooling sarcasm. "Lorelei told us we were staying upstairs."

"No, I just mean I thought you'd be over there at the house," Luke explained.

I rubbed the back of my neck, sitting at the counter. "I think I was kind of, uh, kicked out."

He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "You too, eh?"

"Stop it," I said, getting back up. "So is the door locked?"

"Nah, go ahead," he muttered.

"So you and Lorelei," I teased, "getting pretty serious?"

He just shrugged. "Oh yeah, well look who it's coming from, huh? You and Rory? Who'd of thought you'd still be here, what's it been now, a year?"

"Gee thanks," I said acerbically, feigning offense. "Yeah, a little over a year now."

"Impressive," Luke acknowledged, leaning on the counter. "So…"

"So what?"

"So…never mind," he stopped.

"What?"

"Nothing," he evaded.

"Whatever, I'm going upstairs," I hurriedly marched upstairs.

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"Jess," Rory called, running into the apartment. "Jess….Jess? Are you here? Jesssssss!"

"I'm here, over here," I called from my old room. I was flipping through some CD's, trying to make the perfect mix for… "Are you alright? You sound a little hysterical."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she laughed, walking in as she straightened a shirt out that she had just pulled over her head. "Hey, are you doing anything tonight? Do you think I can leave you on your own, me and mom and Lane have this thing…" She sat behind me, resting her chin on my shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, go on," I dismissed. "I've got to go pick something up in Hartford anyway, and I've got to call Jace, tell him I wont be in for a few days…"

"Well now," she kissed me, "don't have too much fun, I'll feel like you don't need me anymore."

"Oh, I'll always need you," I assured her enthusiastically. I kissed her again.

"I've got to go, Mom and Lane are waiting downstairs," she got up standing in the doorway. She posed, jutting her hip put and pushing her hands against the doorway. She cocked her head to one side, looking at me. "Do I look cool?"

"Oh yeah, like a regular gutter punk," I teased. She smirked. "Now go on, go hang out with your mom." She still stared at me. "Well, get. Really, don't worry about me, I need to go to Hartford anyway. I'll be fine."

"Okay," she conceded. "Well, if you change your mind Zach is around, so you could probably talk to him about…something. Oh, you could check out that music store, Lane says it's really nice. " She picked up her purse and slung it around her shoulder. "Bye, love you."

oooooooo

I'll be honest. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't even know where to go. I didn't even have anyone to ask. I just winged it. I went to Hartford, drove downtown awhile. Then when I saw a shop that I thought looked respectable, I went in, looked around. I picked out what I thought would be good. I mean, I couldn't afford anything really nice and big like it should have been, but I knew that Rory wouldn't mind. It was nice looking though, that's what it was. So I bought it. At first it killed me, just how much the thing was. I had never bought anything that expensive before, I mean, besides my car. I knew that if anything was worth it, though, this was it, definitely. I was scared a little too. See, when I'm nervous about something, I tend to listen to The Pixies a lot. Aside from them being this incredible, incredible band from which all later punk rock bands borrow from, they have this soothing quality to me. It's as if the lyrics are so filled with hysteria and nonsense that it just calms me down. Drug music without the drugs. The day I left Star's Hollow, on the bus after Rory got off, I listened to The Pixies pretty much the first few hours. The night that I came back, when I went to Yale to ask Rory to go away with me, I was listening to Pixies really loudly in the car before. So of course, in the car after I had bought it, driving back to Star's Hollow that night, I was listening to The Pixies.

I had decided to do it, I don't know when. Sometime between when Lorelei had mocked me and when Rory came up. I guess thoughts had been stewing. I mean, me and Rory had been living together for a few months now. We'd known each other for four years. We had actually dated for almost two of them. It was right. I knew it was. It was a little spontaneous, and that's the only thing that bothered me. It didn't matter, I knew it was what I wanted. As soon as I opened up the box and saw it there, I knew. I knew.

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SO! I'm think one maybe two more chapters with this here, then on to a sequel! I'm excited. I mean, finishing a whole fanfic! That's a big deal! Oh, and check out my stuff at I think it's okay. If you want to, go to my fanfic author profile and check out my homepage. Nice, nice.